From the Shadows
by Yingfa
Summary: A Mahad Dal Freid story I've been writting and my second fanfic. It's basically his past. It's finally finished!!!!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, nor any of its original characters. Please don't sue me!!!!

From the shadows

Chapter 1

I've always liked the shadows, their darkness, their coldness. 

My birth placed me in a world were darkness was something alien, unconceivable. My mother always said that I was a child of light, that I was destined to shine over everyone around me. If only she had known…

She died when I was 9 years old. My only contact with light was gone, and I plunged into the darkness I so loved. My father watched as his only son, his heir, became lonely and bitter, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had never been there, and I didn't want him anymore.

My life went on, darkness overwhelming light, for six more years.

The day I turned fifteen, my father and I went on a trip. He wanted to introduce me to his allies, to the kings of the neighboring kingdoms. Bazram, Chezario and Fanelia went by in a blur. Asturia came last. I had heard a lot about this merchant country. I knew about its greedy king, virtuous queen, beautiful princesses and chivalrous knights. 

I didn't care anymore. I had turned into an object, a precious piece of furniture that my father could parade around, but that wouldn't feel or think.

That was, until I saw her. She was truly what the child of light that my mother so seeked for in myself must have always looked like. Silver blond hair flying, violet eyes shinning, she was a vision. One I had never expected to beheld. Marlene.

During my whole visit I barely paid attention to anything but her. She was much younger that me, but still, like a fool, I fell in love with her. I must have been pretty obvious, for the queen kept giving me conspiratorial glances. Oh, well…

It ended all to soon: we had to return home. Time went by, but she still haunted me. I even took to daydreaming, imagining how she would change day-to-day, becoming even more beautiful. Years kept coming and going, and all to soon I turned twenty three. 

That day, my father came to me with the news that I had been betrothed, and that she would be arriving shortly.

I hated him then, more than I even want to remember. How could he do this to me? She would soon come of age and I would have been able to court her! Hate and despair clouded my mind, so that I didn't hear anything else he said, and he left unanswered.

My bride to be arrived two weeks later. I didn't even greet her, I didn't want to see her. No matter what, she would never replace Marlene in my heart, she'd never have my heart as my blond angel did.

Oh, if I had only known, if I hadn't been so stubborn, perhaps…

Six whole months wasted. And when I finally learned her identity, when I finally would have been in a position to win her heart… I had already lost her.

That was the day I learned of the existence of Allen Schezar.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Better to have one bird in your hand, than a thousand flying around.  
  
That was what my mother used to tell me every time I wanted more than I could get. It took me years for the lesson to finally sink and by the time it did it was one of the most bitter ones I have ever learned.  
  
I had everything in my hands, even the woman I loved, and in my foolishness I didn't see it until I had already opened my fist and allowed the bird to fly. Now it flew around me, always so close and yet so far.  
  
Allen Schezar, as I later found out, was the youngest member of the order of the Heavenly Knights. The age difference between him and Marlene was the same as between her and me.  
  
And yet, at his young age, he had already conquered and laid claim to the brightest star his country had to offer: my beloved's heart.  
  
A jealous man's eyes seem to be twice as sharp as those of his brothers, for it was quiet obvious that I was the only one that could see what was happening right bellow the whole court's nose.  
  
Up until this point, I don't know the depth of their relationship. And being completely honest, I don't really want to find out. Marlene took her secret to her grave.  
  
And Allen.  
  
Well, the fact that I kicked the man out of my country the minute I married her should give you quiet an idea of how much I want to talk to the man.  
  
Less than a year later, Chid was born.  
  
With his mother's blond hair and pale complexion, and with blue eyes that could come from Allen or even my own mother, he was perfect. I had braced myself for the blow, expecting to see Allen's face in his son's, but the fact that I came to find my beloved's features in her son melted my heart.  
  
I could see the doubt in his mother's own eyes. She had expected me to throw them both out on the streets, and the public humiliation that with it would come. She had found instead, the man that I had tried so hard to hide, the man that loved her more than anything in this cursed world, the one that would go to hell and back just to see her smile.  
  
Childbirth, though, had taken too much out of her, and as I held my son in my arms, I could see my Queen wasting away.  
  
With the little strength she still held, she then told me the words I had never expected to hear, the ones I had always believed would go unsaid forever.  
  
-"I'm so sorry, beloved. I never wanted to hurt you."  
  
She died a little time later, taking with her my eternal promise that her son would be safe, in my arms. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
It's been six years since the day my heart was ripped out of my chest by her death, and our land, our world, has been thrown back into the arms of war. A war that has come borne in the wings of Zaibach and it's greed.  
  
I have tried to keep our people, our country, safe for as long as I have had the strength. But I can feel my hour coming. And as I prepare myself for battle, I can only hope for you safety, my son. You're all that is left, all that will remain. So I beg of you: live.  
  
That girl, the one from the Phantom Moon, has brought us hope. I just hope she can bring us victory, as well. If the fates allow..  
  
Live, my son, so you may guide our people, live so you may be their hope.  
  
I have tried to keep you safe, to keep you happy, but I fear that the mistakes I have committed may bring you pain. For that, my son, forgive me. I have tried to keep my promise, the one I gave your mother in her dying bed, but I my heart tells me I will leave it unfulfilled. I can feel my end approaching, and I deeply regret that I won't be at your side in days to come.  
  
I once read this words in an ancient book, how ironic that they have come to give me comfort in the last hour of my life  
  
"Cowards die many times before their deaths;  
  
The valiant never taste of death but once.  
  
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,  
  
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;  
  
Seeing that death, a necessary end,  
  
Will come when it will come."  
  
I love you, my son. Never forget or doubt that.  
  
Mahalad Dahl Freid  
AN: Yes! I finally finished this!!! Ok, so it took me a loooong time, but it's finally done. Hmm, it's been a while since I last watched Esca, so a few details may be of. Oh, and the quote at the end of this chapter is from Shakespeare. 


End file.
